Monday - Friday, 6-9 a.m.

Host Tom Temin brings you the latest news affecting the federal community each weekday morning, featuring interviews with top government executives and contractors. Listen live from 6 to 9 a.m. or download archived interviews below.

Ever since the Veterans Affairs scheduling scandal broke, Congress has been heckling the department to fire more people. Robespierre might have resorted to the guillotine to secure the French Revolution. But is simply rolling heads the best strategy for getting the performance you want from your staff? John Palguta is vice president for policy at the Partnership for Public Service. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with why firing is just one small piece of the performance puzzle.

Fifteen agencies receive the bulk of Freedom of Information Act Requests each year. In fact, they account for 90 percent of requests made to the federal government over the last two years. The Center for Effective Government has evaluated their performance in three areas: The agency's FOIA rules, its FOIA website, and how quickly and completely it handles FOIA requests. Sean Moulton is director of open government policy at the Center for Effective Government. He joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to review the 2015 Access to Information Scorecard.

Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker recently revealed the 19 members of the department's new Commerce Data Advisory Council (C-DAC). The council will help guide the department's data strategy aimed at helping it work smarter and more efficiently, and how it deploys data for public use. Mark Doms, the under secretary for Economic Affairs, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the council and what it will do.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, a group of Iraqis has launched a lawsuit against the State and Homeland Security Departments, auditors say the Census Bureau has miscalculated timelines and costs to make the 2020 census Internet-ready and the FBI has upped the reward for a missing former agent.

A new secure online collaboration tool is up and running at the Defense Department. The open source solution enables access card users to chat, message and conference securely with others around the world. Karl Kurz is the program manager for Defense Collaboration Services at the Defense Information Systems Agency. He joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin to explain more about the new tool and what came before it.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, if you worked without getting paid on time during the 2013 government shutdown, watch your inbox today, CIA director John Brennan has unveiled a plan to rebuild how the agency does business and Megan Brennan is sworn in as the first female postmaster general.

David Mader came back for a second tour of duty in government to work on some of the most pressing federal financial management issues. As the Office of Management and Budget's Controller, his priorities span more than just money, but also technology and acquisition. In his first broadcast interview since returning to government last year, Mader joined the Federal Drive with Tom Temin and told executive editor Jason Miller about his vision for finally getting one money-saving effort right — federal shared services.

We've heard lots of ideas lately on how to fix the problems with the Senior Executive Service. But what would the SES look like if the government wiped it out and started over? Federal News Radio examined this issue in our special report, Fixing the SES. Web Manager Julia Ziegler joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to relay some of your comments.

Federal officials routinely cite the fact that they're dealing with taxpayer dollars. Well, what if 90 percent of America didn't pay income tax? The Progressive Consumption Tax Act is a proposal to completely overhaul the tax system. By taxing purchases instead of income, it's designed to encourage savings. But what could the effect be on federal revenues? In the Congressional Spotlight on the Federal Drive, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) walked Tom Temin through his bill.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology recently awarded Colorado State University $20 million toward establishing the Community Resilience Center of Excellence. When it's up and running, the center will help local governments decide how to best prepare for, and recover from, extreme weather or other disasters. Terri McAllister, a research structural engineer at NIST, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the center.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, a military appeals court officially recognizes Chelsea Manning as a woman, the Defense Department has added a social media expert to the team and the Office of Personnel Management's retirement backlog has reached its highest number in more than a year.

Acting Administrator Denise Turner Roth wants to build on the past successes of the General Services Administration. This includes a new Total Workforce Initiative to grow talent development at the GS-7 through GS-11 levels.

Troubled by a lack of women and minorities at the Air Force's higher levels, its leaders are rolling out nine initiatives focusing on recruitment, promotions and retention. Some are new ideas; others are existing programs that will be enhanced. That's according to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. She spoke at an event on women and leadership yesterday, sponsored by the Center for a New American Security. Emily Kopp was there, and joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with a report on it.

The General Services Administration said it listened and heard the concerns over the way agencies currently buy what for the government is a big ticket item — telecommunications services. So GSA's draft request for proposals for the next generation telecommunications contract is designed to simplify the process. It's called Enterprise Integration Solutions (EIS). Federal News Radio's executive editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss GSA's plans for the EIS procurement.

Congress is renewing its push for more oversight of a controversial agency. Two House members introduced the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Inspector General Act of 2015. It's a bipartisan effort, sponsored by Reps. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) and Steve Stivers (R-Ohio). The bill would create an independent Inspector General position at the CFPB. Stivers joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on the bill.

When it comes to federal procurement, some things never change. Among the eternals — companies have to avoid organizational conflicts of interest. Some recent cases drive home that point, and show how even some big companies that should know better can get caught. Procurement attorney Joe Petrillo, a partner at the law firm Petrillo and Powell, joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more.

The Federal Headlines is a daily compilation of the stories you hear discussed on Federal News Radio each day. It is designed to give FederalNewsRadio.com readers more information about the stories heard on the radio. In today's news, Federal offices in the Washington D.C. area are closed today, the Air Force starts nine initiatives to get more women and minorities in the service and the Smithsonian has said no to selfie sticks.

As it has many times over the past decade, the General Services Administration has an acting administrator. This time, unlike several previous situations, the transition was without drama and scandal. Denise Turner Roth joined the GSA a year ago as deputy administrator. Now that Dan Tangherlini has departed for the private sector, Turner Roth has been just named acting administrator. She joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive with more on her plans for her time at the agency's helm.

The General Services Administration is once again trying to change one of the acquisition rules that industry despises the most — the Price Reduction Clause. A proposed rule released today would modernize the way vendors list their prices on the schedule contracts run by GSA. Federal News Radio's executive editor Jason Miller joined Tom Temin on the Federal Drive to discuss this proposed rule and several other acquisition priorities.

Precise as it might be, sometimes contract language doesn't quite cover a particular situation. While it would probably make a contractor's life easier to just stick to the contract language, that's not always an option. Tim Sullivan is a partner at the law firm Thompson Coburn, and author of the blog, "A Government Contractor's 10 Commandments." On the Federal Drive with Tom Temin, he tackled the ninth commandment: Be prepared to reciprocate. It's not just the words on the page that matter; it's the relationship between a contractor and the government customer.